Corruption has become a full blown cancer in Nigeria and the security agencies are not left out, in fact they are responsible for a greater percentage of the mess. Over the years, there have been clamours from various quarters of a complete overhaul of checkpoints on our highway. Among many security agencies that man these checkpoints are the Police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
From recent experiences, the activity of some of the men of these agencies on our highways is nothing but a total national embarrassment. It has also been observed that the concerned authorities of these agencies employ a face saving act each time the issue of bribery is raised as it pertains to their men.
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Bribery in whatever form is very shameful both in the past and now; but of recent, the boldness with which these men on the highway collect bribe is very alarming and it makes one wonder if our country could totally be rid of corruption.
Private car owners are flagged down and embarrassed at will for refusal to compromise; the dealing with public transport drivers is even worse and shameful because it is more or less like a real transaction. How does one describe a situation whereby the driver gives a policeman five hundred or one thousand naira note and the policeman shamelessly brings out money in various denominations from both pockets and hands to give the driver change?
It wasn’t less dramatic at the FRSC checkpoints, as they never bothered to check the driver’s expired documents, non-functional brake lights, expired tyres, the absence of fire extinguishers and others. The norm is; the driver stops and parks properly, he then slots in a two hundred naira note in between his expired documents and goes to the officer on collection duty to offer his daily sacrifice in order to go unpunished for several offences of endangering people’s lives.
One is compelled to ask how we got here.
It is more worrisome to see the superiors of these highway men come on national televisions to defend these shameful acts of their subordinates. It is high time they stopped paying lip service to eradicating corruption. They should give the citizens the benefit of the doubt by taking public transport to their destinations once in a while in order to witness, first-hand, the booming business of their men on the highway.
Accidents, crimes and other unfortunate incidents won’t cease on our highways if proper action is not taken against this bold business of bribe collection.
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